Apartments in The Sims 4: City Living

Last week's announcement of The Sims 4: City Living left a lot of unanswered questions about how our Sims would live in this new city. Luckily, over the last couple days more information has come out regarding the function of apartments in City Living.

Apartments vs penthouses

City Living seems to be walking a line between The Sims 2: Apartment Life and The Sims 3: Late Night with its handling of apartments, by offering both apartments and penthouses. Apartments are part of a larger "apartment shell" building, and up to four apartment units can be part of a single building[1]. Apartment interiors are customizable,[2] but apartment units cannot be expanded, new apartment units cannot be added to an apartment shell, new apartment buildings/apartment shells cannot be built, and apartments cannot be placed or built outside of San Myshuno.[3]

Penthouses in City Living offer more customizability than their Late Night counterparts. Unlike Late Night penthouses, players can completely rebuild penthouses from scratch.

Apartments have traits

Just like Sims can have multiple traits that impact their personality, now apartments and other residential lots will have specific lot traits. Lot traits have an impact on gameplay in the apartment; some traits are positive, such as proximity to good schools or a fast internet connection, while others are negative, such as a vulnerability to earthquakes or faulty wiring. Lots can be assigned up to three traits, but some apartments already have traits assigned to them that cannot be changed[4]

Apartment living

Sims living in apartments are more connected to the community than Sims living in other worlds. Multiple apartment units share common living areas, and apartment neighbors will often stop by to visit... or to intrude. Sims can allow other Sims to enter their apartment freely by giving them a key to the unit. Sims can also visit neighboring apartments in the same building, though doing so will bring up a loading screen. Sims visiting in common areas or going downstairs to the exterior of the building do not trigger loading screens. Festivals and other events will take place outside of the apartment building, and Sims will be able to participate.

Apartment dwellers are prone to noise from their neighbors (reminiscent of the noisy neighbors in Apartment Life), and can also be a cause of noise for their neighbors if they are being too loud.

Renters can call in the landlord to make repairs or to complain about noise, and having a good relationship with the landlord may lead to faster repair times.[5]

Trailer

The Sims team has released a trailer, detailing many of the new features in apartments in City Living. Take a look:

The Sims 4 City Living Official Apartments Trailer

As always, we are on the lookout for more information about apartments, penthouses, and all the other features in City Living. Be sure to refer to our relevant articles for more information on the expansion pack: